Chapter 8: The House On Briar Road
I called my neighbor before I reached the front door.
She answered crying.
“Aaliyah, I’m so sorry.””
“Who took Ava?””
“He knew your name. He knew Derek’s name. He said you’d been in an accident.””
“What did he look like?””
“Older. Maybe sixties. Gray hair. Tall.””
Marcus.
My hand tightened around the phone.
“What car?””
“A black SUV.””
“License plate?””
“I didn’t see it.””
Claire came running behind me.
“Call the police.””
“I am.””
But before I could dial, my phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared.
Ava was sitting on a sofa.
She looked frightened but unharmed.
Behind her was a stone fireplace.
Underneath the picture was an address.
Briar Road.
Claire saw it.
Her face went white.
“You know that house.””
It wasn’t a question.
“Yes.””
“Whose is it?””
She looked at me.
“Marcus Vale’s.””
I called 911.
I gave them everything.
The address.
Ava’s description.
Marcus’s name.
The photograph.
The officer told me not to approach the property.
I promised I wouldn’t.
I lied.
Twenty minutes later, Claire and I stopped across from a large house outside town.
The black SUV was parked beside it.
“That’s him,” Claire whispered.
I reached for the door handle.
She grabbed my wrist.
“The police are coming.””
“My daughter is inside.””
“You don’t know what Marcus wants.””
“I know exactly what he wants.””
“What?””
“Control.””
I stepped out.
The front door opened before I reached the porch.
An older man appeared.
Gray hair.
Dark jacket.
Calm expression.
Marcus Vale.
He looked at me as if we had an appointment.
“Aaliyah.””
“Where is my daughter?””
“She’s safe.””
“Bring her outside.””
“In a moment.””
I stepped closer.
“Now.””
Marcus smiled faintly.
“You sound like your mother.””
Hearing him mention her made my skin crawl.
“You don’t get to say her name.””
“She said the same thing about me.””
The door behind him opened wider.
“Ava!””
My daughter ran toward me.
I dropped to my knees and caught her.
“Mommy!””
I held her so tightly she started crying.
“Did he hurt you?””
She shook her head.
“He just kept asking questions.””
“What questions?””
“About Derek.””
Marcus remained in the doorway.
“I needed to know what my son had done.””
I stood, keeping Ava behind me.
“You could have called.””
“You wouldn’t have answered.””
“You lied to take my child.””
“Yes.””
The casual admission stunned me.
Marcus looked at Ava.
“Go stand with your aunt.””
“No.””
Ava clung to me.
Marcus sighed.
“She’s stubborn.””
“Don’t talk about her.””
His expression hardened.
For the first time, I saw something familiar in his face.
The same coldness I had seen in Derek.
“Your mother was stubborn too,” he said.
“What did you do to her?””
Claire stepped onto the porch.
“Marcus, stop.””
He looked at her.
“You should have burned that notebook.””
My heart pounded.
“You threatened my mother.””
“No.””
Marcus looked directly at me.
“Your mother threatened me.””
“With what?””
“The truth.””
“What truth?””
He walked inside.
Then returned carrying a small metal case.
He placed it on the porch.
“Open it.””
I didn’t move.
“What is it?””
“The reason Derek chose you.””
Those words chilled me.
I opened the case.
Inside were old photographs and a small recorder.
The first photograph showed my mother standing beside a teenage Derek.
Another showed Marcus outside a courthouse.
Then I found a picture of Derek watching me from across a parking lot.
The date was five years ago.
Months before we supposedly met.
Claire whispered, “Oh my God.””
Marcus nodded toward the recorder.
“Your mother made that recording before she died.””
“Why do you have it?””
“Because she gave it to Derek.””
I stared at him.
“That makes no sense.””
“It will.””
I pressed play.
Static filled the tiny speaker.
Then I heard my mother’s voice.
Weak.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
“Aaliyah, if you’re hearing this, then I failed to stop him.””
My eyes filled instantly.
Ava squeezed my hand.
My mother continued.
“Derek didn’t enter your life because he loved you.””
A pause.
“He entered it because of me.””
I looked at Marcus.
The recording continued.
“Years ago, I testified in a case that destroyed the Vale family. Derek blamed me for everything that happened afterward.””
My chest tightened.
“He promised he would take away the person I loved most.””
The recording crackled.
“At first, I thought he meant you.””
Another pause.
Then my mother said the words that made my blood turn cold.
“I was wrong.””
I looked at Ava.
“He was waiting for you to have someone you loved more than yourself.””
The recording stopped.
No explanation.
No goodbye.
Nothing.
Marcus stared at Ava.
And suddenly the entire nightmare made horrifying sense.
May you like
Derek had never chosen me as his final target.
He had been waiting for my daughter.
